


Rocky Road

by maddogkyouchan



Series: HQ Rarepair Week 2020 [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Autistic Character, Autistic Tsukishima Kei, Fluff, HQ Rarepair Week, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:00:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23908858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maddogkyouchan/pseuds/maddogkyouchan
Summary: Today is a Bad Day. Tsukishima is sure that running into someone he can't stand on the bus will only make it worse.
Relationships: Tendou Satori/Tsukishima Kei
Series: HQ Rarepair Week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1720978
Comments: 14
Kudos: 258





	Rocky Road

Tsukishima has days that are… not so good. Days where the chatter of a crowded room or the fabric of his uniform jacket or a too-soggy breakfast can ruin not just his day, but his mental health. Sometimes he can stave it off with noise cancelling headphones. Sometimes it’s a steady routine that keeps him on track, from what he eats for each meal to what order he does his homework in. Sometimes the only thing that helps is stimming, and that always feels bad to him, as someone who, regretfully, cares what other people think about him.

Today is a Bad Day, but he’s not sure how bad yet. He just knows he’s glad it’s the weekend- he wants to stay in his room, where the fabrics are all picked with his sensory requirements in mind, and the only sound is his music, and occasionally a knock on his door. Frustrating, but not enough to set him off.

At least, not until a knock on the door is to remind him of a promise he made to go shopping a few towns over to buy Akiteru’s birthday present. He tries to defend himself, offer to go on another day- but his parents don’t always understand the concept of him having a Bad Day. He’s not the best at articulating it, and he has a hard time talking to them in general, so it becomes easier to just agree rather than start up a real argument.

Tsukishima does make sure they hear when he storms out of the house, though. It’s petty, but _he’s_ petty, and he wants them to know how much they’ve inconvenienced him today. He has to take a bus to get to the area the shop is in, and sits as far away from anyone else as he can. When someone drops into the seat next to him a few stops later, his skin crawls when the scratchy fabric of their Hawaiian shirt brushes against his hand. He’s so focused on that, he doesn’t even realize who it is until they’ve bent sideways to get into his field of view.

His headphones are on, but he can lipread well enough to tell that Tendou Satori is calling him ‘glasses-kun’. The delight on Tendou’s face could give him a headache on its own. Still, with them on the same bus, there’s no way he can get out of interacting with him, other than getting off, hoping he doesn’t follow him, and try to catch the next one- and he doesn’t even know the schedule for other stops, so it could be over an hour of waiting. No. He has to just deal with this.

When Tendou reaches for the headphones, Tsukishima reaches up quickly to pull them down instead, not wanting him to touch them. “What?” he hisses. “What do you want?”

“Whatcha doing on this bus, Glasses-kun?” Tendou asks, still with that creepy grin.

“What are you doing here?” Tsukishima counters.

“I take this bus every weekend,” he answers easily. “But I’ve never seen you on it. Let me guess-”

“Keep your guesses on the court,” Tsukishima cuts him off. “I’m going to a specific store to pick something up. If your curiosity’s sated, could you kindly leave me alone?” His words are as polite as he can make them, but he’s nearly grinding his teeth in irritation. Tendou is too close, and his shirt oversized enough that when he moves further into Tsukishima’s space, it could brush up against him. Frankly, it’s like he’s waving a knife at him without even realizing.

“It’s not sated at all! A specific store? A specific item! You’re being so cagey, could you actually be doing something interesting? You, the normal guy?”

And it just gets dragged out further… “A present for my older brother.”

Tendou’s eyes scan his face, as if searching for a lie, before he sighs and leans back into his seat. “Nope, nothing interesting then, huh. Are you really going all this way just for one probably-boring present?”

He shouldn’t rise to the bait, but he does. “It’s a CD my parents ordered from overseas.”

“Oh yeah? Explains the headphones-” Tendou taps on them with a nail, and Tsukishima tries to pull further away. It’s not possible, and he only pushes himself against the corner. “-gonna give it a test run before he can listen, right?”

“No,” he says flatly. “I was trying to avoid conversations with creepy strangers. Unfortunately, I ran into a particularly pushy one.”

“We’re not really strangers, are we, Glasses-kun?”

“Considering you don’t seem to know my name, Tendou-san, I would call us strangers, yes.” There’s at least one good side to this- that talking to Tendou is helping to distract him from the buzz of noise around them. It’s only marginally better, but he’s a little less on edge as Tendou keeps speaking.

Tendou leans back in his seat, stretching his legs out into the aisle as he does. “No, no, I definitely know it. Tsu-something- Tsujii? No, it was longer- Tsukki, wasn’t it? The moon? Tsukiyama?”

“Tsukishima,” he corrects, though he has the feeling Tendou already knew.

“Tsukishimaaaaa?”

“Tsukishima Kei,” he completes with a sigh.

Tendou is still grinning at him, but now it seems more genuine than mocking. Not that Tsukishima is trying to analyze it, he just… has a feeling. “Tsukishima Kei. Hey, you’re just a first year, right? Have you even gone this far on a bus alone yet?”

Tsukishima scoffs. “Not to this particular town, but yes. I’m not a child, Tendou-san.”

“Are you sure this isn’t your first errand?” he teases.

“It-” The bus comes to a stop and Tsukishima realizes with a start that it’s his stop. Somehow, talking to Tendou really passed the time, even better than if he just listened to music the whole time. “My stop. Goodbye, Tendou-san,” he says before hurrying off.

He doesn’t even have time to be relieved before realizing that Tendou stepped off the bus as well, the duffel bag he’s carrying smacking into Tsukishima’s side. “What a coincidence!” Tendou cheers, throwing an arm over his shoulders. Tsukishima physically cringes when the sleeve of Tendou’s shirt touches the back of his neck, and the arm is gone as soon as it arrived, though Tendou acts as though nothing happened. “And you know what, Tsukishima-kun? I grew up in this town! I’ll guide you around!”

“Please don’t.”

“Nope, I’m going to. Otherwise you could get lost! And on your first errand, Tsukishima-kun!”

…his only hope at this point is that, if he plays along, Tendou might lose interest. He plasters on the best fake smile he can manage. “Then thank you, Tendou-san.”

Tsukishima brings up the name of the store on his phone and, while Tendou gets far too close for comfort to peek at his screen, they don’t brush up against each other again. It must be deliberate, but he’s so casual about it that Tsukishima can’t bring himself to mention it, just in case it’s a coincidence and he’s making too much out of it.

Tendou leads the way, which is immediately an exhausting experience. The entire town is a place for him to chatter on and on about. He points out a bench and tells an entire story about how he met a childhood friend there, or they pass a store and he babbles about how he apparently shoplifted a candy bar as a toddler. Tsukishima nods at the appropriate times, showing as little interest as he can without sparking some sort of comment from Tendou, but Tendou shows no sign of stopping and he itches to put his headphones back on to block him out.

When they finally get to the music shop, Tendou rushes in before him, flipping through CDs. Tsukishima’s tempted to do the same, but instead just goes to the counter to pick up the order. It’s quick, it’s easy, and if he’s lucky he can leave before Tendou notices-

Of course he isn’t lucky. Tendou bounces up to his side as soon as he gets near the door. “Ditching me now that your errand is over, Tsukishima-kun?” he asks.

“Surely you have your own things to do in town, Tendou-san,” he says as gently as possible through clenched teeth.

“Mm, nope! And hey, you have a while until the next bus comes to take you back, so what were you going to do, just stand around?”

It sounds better than spending more time with Tendou. “Why not?”

Tendou laughs, delighted. “Tsukishima-kun, you’re so boring! Come with me-” he grabs Tsukishima’s wrist, seemingly without thinking. The palm of his hand is rough, probably from how hard Shiratorizawa’s volleyball practice is, but that’s a distant thought, because what Tsukishima notices first is that he doesn’t hate it.

The frustrating thing about having sensory issues is that he never knows what will bother him until he’s touched it. It’s all trial and error- one type of slippery shampoo could be fine, for instance, but a different brand too thick and slimy, thus, unusable. Yamaguchi’s hands used to be too soft, he remembers, and so they haven’t touched his skin in years. Tendou’s, though… it’s fine.

Tendou turns back to look at him for a moment, his naturally wide eyes looking at where he’s holding Tsukishima before going up to his face, as if checking if it’s fine. Whatever he sees on Tsukishima’s face seems to read as approval, as he doesn’t let go, and instead starts leading him down the road.

He lets himself be pulled along as they enter a residential area, one full of large houses that would dwarf Tsukishima’s own. “Tendou-san,” he finally speaks up, finding his voice. “Where, exactly, are we going?”

“My house! Ah, don’t worry, I’m not abducting you!” Tendou laughs. “Just gotta drop off my bag before we go around town for real!”

“Your… oh.” So that’s what Tendou is doing- just visiting his family. That makes sense, considering Shiratorizawa has dorms.

He continues to let himself be led. Tendou only releases him when they’re inside a surprisingly fancy house- not one that he would imagine Tendou living in, and especially not growing up in. Then again, it isn’t really his business, and he doesn’t particularly care about it.

Not until a woman who is undeniably Tendou’s mother steps into the hall at the sound of the front door opening. “Satori- oh.” She looks Tsukishima over, her wide eyes making him uncomfortable, especially when paired with an unamused mouth.

“Pardon the intrusion,” he says immediately, almost on instinct.

“Satori, you didn’t say you were bringing someone this time.”

“He’s not staying!” Tendou says, starting up the stairs and gesturing for Tsukishima to follow. He’s slow to do so. “He’s on a day trip, I’m just gonna show him around town, don’t wooorry about it!” Tendou apparently decides Tsukishima is too slow, and grabs him again, dragging him up the steps before his mother can answer.

Tendou comes to an abrupt stop at one of the doors, and Tsukishima puts a hand up to keep from fully bumping into him. Unfortunately, that means his palm comes right in contact with Tendou’s shirt, and he shudders, immediately rubbing his hand against his own pants to try to rub the feeling away.

He doesn’t realize Tendou’s watching him until he speaks up. “Hey, what’s that about?”

“…what?” He’d like to play it off, but the way he’s still trying to wipe away that damn texture isn’t helping his case.

“Oop- never mind, I got it. You know, Eita-kun’s got the same problem, so almost all his casual clothes are just denim. Denim pants, denim jacket, denim leggings if he’s wearing a skirt-” Tendou chats as he pulls Tsukishima into his bedroom. “Denim on denim, it’s a fucking travesty, and he can wear cotton blend t-shirts just fine so I tell him, just buy a jacket made of the same stuff or something and you’ll look way less uncool, but he hates shopping because he has to try to touch a bunch of stuff to see if it’ll drive him nuts and if he touches too many different things in a row that’ll drive him nuts on its own-” Tendou tosses his duffel bag on the bed and shrugs off his Hawaiian shirt, leaving only his tank top on, and throws it over the bag.

Tsukishima’s stunned into silence. It shouldn’t be too surprising, really- most people have met someone like him, he thinks, whether they know it or not, but the ease at which Tendou not only discusses it, but adjusts himself for Tsukishima’s comfort? It’s something he’s only ever come to expect from Yamaguchi.

“-so anyway I think we’re good to go out now. Right? Tank top’s not gonna freak you out?”

“…you didn’t have to do that,” Tsukishima tells him. It’s all he can think to say.

Tendou snorts, as if he made a funny joke. “Yeah, sure. But you’re good?”

“I’m fine, Tendou-san.” He’s better, actually. Much better. “But it’s cold out. You should put on a jacket.”

“Clever, clever-” He throws open a closet door, almost hard enough to take it off its track, and pulls out a sweatshirt. Tendou hums something tuneless as he feels the fabric before bowing at a ninety-degree angle and holding it out to Tsukishima- for his approval?

After a few seconds, he reaches out to touch it, almost carefully. The fabric not only isn’t painful to touch, but it’s actually… nearly comforting. Something Tsukishima would wear himself on a Bad Day. “It’s good,” he says, letting go of it.

“Good, then let’s go!” He doesn’t grab at Tsukishima this time, assuming he’ll follow after- which he does, of course. He’s not just going to stand around Tendou’s oddly bare bedroom. He follows Tendou down the stairs into the empty hall, his mother having left at some point. “Goin’ out, be back eventually!” Tendou calls into the house as he throws the sweatshirt on, leaving without waiting for a reply.

“Alright,” Tendou starts when they’re outside. “Let me think… movie, dinner, a ride up to lover’s lane- whoops, that’s probably not for us!” He winks at Tsukishima, who only rolls his eyes. “What do you want to do? Wait, no, I’ve got it- ice cream.”

“It’s cold out, Tendou-san.”

“Which means no line at the shop! Come on, walk with me.”

Tsukishima walks at his side as Tendou talks. This time, it’s not nearly as annoying when Tendou tells him a story about how he brought his ‘Eita-kun’ to the ice cream parlor and they got kicked out for arguing over the pronunciation of different flavors. In fact, he even gets Tsukishima to laugh a few times. When Tendou bumps into him as they walk, he doesn’t recoil. He almost tries to make it happen more.

“What’s your favorite ice cream flavor, Tsukishima-kun?” Tendou asks as they enter the shop.

“Strawberry,” he answers, not even needing to think about it.

Tendou beams, as if there was only one right answer and Tsukishima gave it. “Oh? And here I thought you’d be a normal, boring, plain-vanilla guy.”

“It’s strawberry,” Tsukishima answers again. “Though I like strawberry cake better than ice cream, anything that flavor is my favorite.”

“I’ll remember that,” Tendou promises. “For next time you end up on my bus again.” He marches right up to the counter and orders two sundaes- a strawberry one with strawberry syrup and fresh sliced strawberries on top for Tsukishima, and a mint chocolate chip with hot fudge and M&Ms sundae for himself.

“I feel like mine might be a little overboard,” Tsukishima says dryly as the cashier makes it. “And you should have asked if I wanted a whole sundae first. It might be easy for a Shiratorizawa student to afford, but the prices here are pretty high.”

“Who said I’d let you pay?” Tendou pulls out his cowprint wallet- cowprint, really- and pulls out more than enough yen to pay for both of them. He refuses to take his change- the cashier doesn’t seem surprised, and uses it on the next order- and Tendou passes Tsukishima his pink monstrosity of a sundae.

It’s delicious, of course. The syrup is cold, so it doesn’t melt Tsukishima’s ice cream nearly as fast as Tendou’s hot fudge, and the fresh strawberries aren’t too juicy. Tendou tries to steal a few bites of Tsukishima’s, but he fends him off until he asks, mock-politely, for some. Tsukishima doesn’t say yes, but he reaches over to take a spoonful of Tendou’s mint chip, which is permission in itself.

Somehow, Tendou manages to prompt him into talking a little about himself- Tsukishima doesn’t even remember how it happens, but he finds himself talking about his family’s surprise party for his brother and how they’ve even gotten his mangaka boyfriend in on it. In return, Tendou talks about Ushijima’s not-so-secret boyfriend from Aoba Johsai, which, while he doesn’t name names, sounds an awful lot like Iwaizumi. That leads to Tsukishima complaining about his best friend dating the other two first years on their team, and before he knows it, his ice cream is long gone, and the sun is setting.

Tendou cheerfully walks him to the bus stop, draping an arm over his shoulders partway there. Tsukishima doesn’t shy away- the body warmth is appreciated, and, well, maybe he doesn’t mind Tendou being so close after today.

“Kei-kun-” and he doesn’t remember when that happened, either, but he doesn’t stop him. “-you should give me your email address, so we can keep talking.”

“Hm. Maybe I should.” He doesn’t give it, though, smiling wryly at him.

Tendou groans, putting his weight on him as punishment. He appreciates the pressure instead- another one of his stims, usually only helped by a weighted blanket, but Tendou seems to work well enough, too. When he doesn’t cave, Tendou groans again. “Fine. Can I pleeease have your email, Kei-kun?”

“You don’t sound very genuine, Tendou. Maybe you don’t actually want it?” he asks as he plucks Tendou’s phone out of his hand, putting his email in it.

Tendou grins at his phone when he has it back, and lets go of him when the bus approaches. “See you next weekend.”

“I don’t think I said I’d be taking the bus with you again.”

“You will if you want another date with me!”

…was this a date? At the surprise on Tsukishima’s face, Tendou opens his mouth- whether to tease, explain, or backtrack, Tsukishima isn’t sure, because he cuts him off. “Fine.”

“…fine?”

“Fine. See you next weekend, Tendou.” He steps on the bus and quickly takes a seat. Even when the doors shut, he can hear a whoop of victory through the glass.

**Author's Note:**

> all autistic traits taken directly from me and given to tsukki. tsukishima kins ME now.
> 
> find me on twitter at deltonysus, and on tumblr at trantsukki


End file.
